The Oman Ministry of Heritage and Culture demonstrated their willingness to continue their campaign against violation of Intellectual Property Rights (IPR) in the Sultanate, by conducting a raid at the headquarters of a shopping center, during which they confiscated computers, several pirated versions of Windows XP and Office XP, in addition to other pirated software CDs.
This campaign is part of the Ministry’s strategic long-term plan to protect IPR, in association with Business Software Alliance (BSA). BSA is an international organisation committed to protecting the rights and interests of software developers and providing a safe e-commerce environment.
Khalid Al Ghusaini, General Manager, Organisations and Culutral Relations, Ministry of Heritage and Culture, Oman said, “The IT sector has witnessed a lot of positive changes during the past few years. To ensure the continuous growth and development of this sector, we should provide a healthy working environment for the entire software development community. This can only be achieved by the application of IPR laws, which is vital to be a part of the global economy.”
“The measures we have undertaken, are in line with our awareness campaigns that target distribution companies, software solution providers, businesses and end users of the software, to make them fully aware of the consequences of using pirated software like low performance of PCs and loss of valuable data. The significance of our efforts have amplified as a result of the e-governance initiatives taken up by the Oman government and the increased use of IT in various business sectors,” he added.
Jawad Al Redha, Co-Chairman, BSA Middle East said, “The government of Oman’s efforts totally complement BSA’s anti-piracy initiatives to spread awareness about the protection of IPR. This campaign has resulted in a considerable decrease in the use of pirated software and has been able to encourage software companies to invest in programmes that curb software piracy.”
“We are looking forward to working closely with the Oman government, especially with the Ministry of Heritage and Culture, to prevent IPR violations. Dealers are co-operating with BSA and are showing their commitment in this regard, by signing the Code of Ethics drafted by BSA to protect copyrighted software. Further, the countries adhering to these policies are benefiting a lot, in terms of investment by leading software companies to set up operations in these countries, which in turn would provide numerous employment opportunities to citizens,” concluded Al Redha.
